The Matchmaker
by buseojin
Summary: Lucy was bad at keeping boyfriends, so Lisanna decided to help her get a matchmaker. Too bad Lucy's matchmaker turned out to be a certain pink-headed homewrecker who seemed to know absolutely nothing about love! (Slow NaLu, mild Jerza, Gajevy, Gruvia, and Bixanna) Rated T for now


Lucy Heartfilia, for the most part, did not have a hard time getting a new boyfriend. She had so many boyfriends, that by the time she was a sophomore in high school, her classmates were already calling her "She who keeps seducing" (she had no idea where such a title even came from, but she had a sneaking suspicion that her friend, Cana, had unintentionally started it when she very loudly insinuated in the busy school cafeteria that Lucy had seduced all the boys she had dated).

No, Lucy's problem wasn't getting someone to ask her out. There was no way anyone could deny her (dare she say it) almost _angelic_ appearance. Her long, golden hair that reached down to the curve of her back shone brightly in the sunlight like an angel. Her eyes, big, coffee colored and doe-like radiated innocence, and her plump pink lips were soft and kissable. Her body was to die for, rivaling those that belonged to swimsuit models Mirajane Strauss and Jenny Realight. It wasn't that she had a particularly nasty personality either. Sure, sometimes she got loud and huffy, but she knew when to act annoying and when to be serious. She was sure that her friends could all vouch for her when she said that she wasn't a mega-bitch.

Her problem was keeping a boyfriend. Her longest relationship was three months (Loke, surprisingly, remained faithful throughout the whole time), and her shortest relationship only lasted a measly five days ("I just wanted to try it out," Sting protested just before Lucy punched him directly in the nose). Her last relationship was in her sophomore year of college, and she had sworn off dating after that nasty breakup. It was easy at first…

… and then all her friends started dating. Erza was first, and Lucy happily cheered her boyfriend, Jellal, on from behind the trees as she watched the bluenette nervously stammer over his words throughout his whole confession. Then came Levy. Lucy had been expecting it, seeing how Gajeel was always looming around her bibliophile friend anyway. Things started getting a little weird when Lisanna started dating Bickslow. Lucy swore she had no idea that they even knew each other, but _bam_ \- one day they were doing a group project for class, and the next day, they were dating.

Now a first semester senior, Lucy was starting to feel a little left out. It didn't help that her friends liked having movie nights, and she was often the one sitting on the floor, her only date being the huge bag of butter popcorn that Levy made sure to toss in the microwave for her before she went to find her place on Gajeel's lap. Lucy didn't realize that she was _incredibly_ lonely, until Lisanna finally pointed out that she was bitching an awful lot about how she was still single.

"What? I am _not_ ," Lucy insisted, her cheeks turning red at Lisanna's accusation. "I was just saying that the couple that just passed needed to tone down on the PDA!"

"You say that about _every_ couple, even when they're just smiling at each other!" Lisanna pointed out. "Look, I know that your breakup with Gray was hard on you, but maybe you should get back into the dating scene again. I can introduce you to a matchmaker."

Lucy shook her head in disbelief, her red heart earrings tinkling softly as she moved. "Why on earth would I need a matchmaker?"

Lisanna rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her fruity tea. "Because you can't find a guy who'll stay by your side for life?" Her words hit Lucy like a brick. "Because you have a bad taste in guys? Because you can't find the perfect match?"

Lucy held up her hand, surrendering to the white-haired girl's onslaught. "Okay, you're not wrong. But I think a matchmaker is a bit too much, isn't it? That's _way_ too professional."

"If you're worried about that, it's fine! He's actually a student at our school!" Lisanna chirped, gesturing at their campus, which could be seen directly outside the window of the café they were in. "He introduced me to Bickslow in our biology class, actually, and that's how I hit it off with him."

Lucy considered her options. A matchmaker didn't seem that bad. Maybe she could let someone help her with relationships. For all her previous relationships, she had jumped into them on a whim. Maybe she needed someone's judgment, for once.

"He doesn't charge money," Lisanna said.

Lucy slammed her hand down on the table, startling Lisanna and several people nearby. "Alright, let's do it," she said.

Lisanna laughed loudly, clutching her sides. "Really? That's all it takes for you to agree to this?" She wiped an invisible tear from her eyes. "I thought it would take more to convince you! But I'm glad you're willing to try, since you've been pretty bitter since you and Gray broke up."

"Can you stop mentioning him?" Lucy puffed out her cheeks. Gray Fullbuster was her childhood friend, and he had stayed by her side throughout all the relationships she had been through. He had been Lucy's last boyfriend; they both thought that the relationship would work out, since they knew each other well enough that they didn't think any problems was arise. But that was exactly the reason they broke up. Two months after they started dating, Gray decided to call things off with Lucy, telling her that he knew her _too_ well, and that he felt like he was dating his sister. Lucy had tried to be understanding and didn't fight with him because Gray was one of her closest friends and she would hate to see him go. Gray, however, felt more than a little awkward and decided to join the school's sculpting club, which took up so much time that Lucy rarely saw him anymore. Although she didn't harbor any ill will towards Gray, Lucy couldn't help but feel a little sore whenever Gray's name was mentioned.

"Sorry, sorry!" Lisanna smiled apologetically. She checked her iPhone for the time before gasping in alarm. "Oh, crap! I didn't realize it was so late already!" she scrambled up from her seat while gathering her things. "I gotta run before old man Macao takes off points because I was late too many times. Bye!"

Lucy absentmindedly waved goodbye to Lisanna as she left, her mind still too focused on thoughts of Gray. She didn't even want to date him anymore; she just wanted to return back to the good old days when she and Gray still hung out in her studio apartment where she whined about her father's business ventures and strange dealings while he only half-listened while painting her toenails silver.

Since Lisanna was gone, Lucy no longer had any reason to stay at the café. She decided to go for a walk in the school grounds so that she could get some fresh air.

xxx

Magnolia University was a lovely place to be at the middle of September. The skies were still bright blue despite the cooling weather, and there was a light flutter of wind every so often as Lucy walked along the outskirts of campus. The leaves, in colors of brilliant orange and red, fell to the ground, landing with a soft crunch. There were a few bugs flying about every so often, but Lucy paid no heed to them, so long as they didn't try to sting or bite her.

She liked going along the less traveled roads that not many students knew about. She herself only found out about the paths because one of her older friends, Bisca, had told her about how she and Alzack liked to have late night rendezvous there in the wee early hours of the mornings when the dorms used to be separated by gender.

Along the paths was an even more secret place; there was a barely noticeable man-made trail that led off into the nature preserve right next to the campus, and that trail led to an old ranger cabin. No one used the cabin anymore, since it had been deserted long before Lucy even started attending university.

After Lucy had discovered the little cabin, she had made it her own little hideout. Despite the fact that there wasn't any electricity, it was a homey little cabin, which she had diligently cleaned and dusted off. She had bought some old furniture from garage sales off campus and had secretly snuck them there. There was a small futon she had tucked in the corner of the room, covered with several sheets, some pillows and a blanket. A small, circular wooden table, which she decorated with an old tea set, was tucked to the front of the cabin near the glass window. Another dresser was pushed all the way to the back of the cabin, and she had placed a small portable gas stove and several cans of butane there so that she could boil some water from a nearby spring, if she ever felt in the mood for some tea and a hot water kettle. All the walls were decorated with battery operated fairy lights, something Lucy enjoyed when she felt like staying at her hideout a little later in the day.

Remembering the new teabags she had brought to campus with her, Lucy's pace quickened as she skipped to her cabin. She hummed to herself as it came into view. She was so focused on getting to her cabin that she didn't notice that a patch of the soil steps away from the cabin had been disturbed.

The first thing Lucy noticed when she went into the cabin was that someone had moved her teacups, and that there was freshly brewed tea inside of one of them. The second thing she noticed was loud snoring coming from someone sleeping on her futon.

Lucy screamed.

As if he had been struck by lightning, the person on the futon abruptly sat up with wide eyes. "Huh? What happened? Who died?" A sleepy, slightly scratchy baritone voice asked. Lucy was able to make out a head full of pink hair as he scrambled off of the futon.

She froze when her eyes locked with smoky dark gray ones.

There was a moment of silence as the two of them stared at each other.

The pinkette smiled.

Lucy screamed again and threw her bag at him, her books colliding square with his face. He let out an indignant squawk as he flopped back onto the bed. "Hey, what the heck!" he yelled as he yanked the bag off of his face, only to find out that she had ran away.

xxx

The next day, Lucy arrived at school with black circles under her eyes and messy hair. The memory of the stranger was enough to raise goose bumps along her arms. Considering that someone had discovered her hideout, she would have to take all her things back and abandon the cabin she had worked so hard to upkeep in the last few years.

"Wow, Lu, you look awful!" Levy commented when Lucy joined her and Lisanna at dining hall for lunch. Even though her friends had agreed that lunchtime was specifically a thing for just the girls, Erza was celebrating yet another month of her relationship with Jellal, and opted to spend the day with her boyfriend instead.

"Yeah, I feel awful too," Lucy sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Yesterday wasn't a good day."

Lisanna pulled her lunch out of her bag and set it on the table. "You looked fine when I left you yesterday," she said, unwrapping her sandwich.

Lucy sighed. _"Well, my little second home got ransacked,"_ she thought to herself as she dug through her bag for her lunch container, only to realize that it wasn't there. Lucy groaned. She had been so miserable that morning that she had forgotten to pack lunch. The blonde sulkily plopped down onto the table. "I give up."

"It's okay, Lu! I brought extra food!" Levy said, pushing forward her large lunch box for Lucy to see.

"It's fine, Levy. Besides, I don't want to eat all the food you brought for Gajeel," Lucy held up a hand to wave Levy off. "Thanks for the offer though."

Lisanna tried to offer Lucy part of her sandwich. "If it helps, I told the matchmaker to join us for lunch today. He should be here soon."

"Matchmaker?" Levy's head perked up with interest.

"We're trying to help Lucy get a boyfriend again!" Lisanna explained. "That way, she won't get all sour when she sees us with our boyfriends!"

Lucy lifted her head up and glowered at the white-haired girl. "Oh, come on! I'm not _that_ bad," she pouted.

Levy laughed awkwardly. "To be honest, Lu, you kinda are."

"Lisanna!" a voice called. Lucy recognized the voice, though she couldn't tell where exactly she had heard it. Maybe it was from a classmate in one of her classes.

"Natsu!" Lisanna called, scooting over in her seat for her friend to join. Lucy willed herself to smile, and looked up just in time to see a pink-headed male settle down next to Lisanna. "Natsu, this is my friend Lucy. She's the one who needs help finding a boyfriend."

Natsu stared intensely at Lucy, his brows furrowing in concentration. He leaned forward. On instinct, Lucy leaned back, intimidated by the lack of distance between them. "Yes?" she asked, her cheeks turning red underneath his intense gaze.

"You!" Natsu yelped, jabbing his finger in Lucy's direction. " _You're_ the one who threw your bag at me!"

Lucy's jaw dropped as she stared in shock. " _You're_ the matchmaker?!"

* * *

A/N: Hello everybody! This is buseojin here! It's been years since I last wrote an anime fanfiction (4 years, I think?) so I'm super nervous about putting this up. NaLu is one of my favorite ships for Fairy Tail, and after watching some of the anime, I finally decided to write again!

So, please tell me what you all think about this first chapter so far! I would love to know!


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